Do the Time Warp S:0 Ep:3
by Lina Cross
Summary: Shameless theft of SG1's "Window of Opportunity" episode. Sheppard and McKay find themselves trapped in a time loop, and as the day is one in which major setbacks are suffered, they must figure out how to fix the problems before they fix the loop.
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry for the lateness of this one. I've been having problems with fanfiction at my house, and I keep forgetting to post at school. Hope you enjoy this one!**

**I do not own Stargate: Atlantis, but I do own Lieutenant Cooper**

. . .

Sheppard awoke to the sound of his alarm combined with an odd buzzing noise. He smacked the button on his sidetable and pulled himself out of the welcoming depths of his pillow. His left shoulder was sore from carrying a case of rocks for one of the scientists all across a damn planet yesterday, but he figured a good hour or so in the training room would help loosen that up. It was the buzzing sound that was concerning him right now.

The noise was annoying and slightly familiar, like fluorescent lighting that was going bad. But the lights in Atlantis weren't fluorescent and never made a sound except when they were turning on. He played with the lights in his room for a moment, flipping them on and off. The noise persisted through it all. Frowning, he figured he'd get one of the engineers on it and left for the mess hall.

"Good morning, John," Teyla said brightly, ever the early riser.

He simply nodded in reply, heading straight for the coffee. He needed a good dose of caffeine before he was prepared for any sort of social interaction.

"Elizabeth wishes to meet with you when you can find the time," Teyla continued as he sat down.

He nodded, leaning back in his chair. "Yep. I haven't been on Atlantis much in the last week. She probably just misses me."

The Athosian smiled. "I think the term Lieutenant Ford taught me was... booty call?"

Sheppard almost choked on his coffee, the inside of his mouth burning. "What?" he spluttered.

"Was I incorrect?"

"I - uh..." He trailed off, running a hand through his hair. "If you meant it as a joke, and I really hope you did, then yeah, you got it right."

"Teaching the locals new vocabulary again, sir?" Cooper asked dryly as she sat down with her tray.

He gave her a look. "This one wasn't me."

"As you say, sir."

He looked at the girls. "Is there some kind of plan that I don't know about? 'Piss Off Sheppard Day' or something?"

"No, sir, you already told me you'd have me court marshalled for such a thing."

"Damn right," he said, pointing an aggressive finger at her. "I'm gonna go see Elizabeth. If you get up to any nonsense while I'm gone, just remember where I am."

"We will do our best to behave," Teyla promised with a smirk.

He nodded once, then stood and headed out of the mess hall. Sometimes, he didn't know how he ever got along without his team.

Something collided into his right side, unfortunately the side holding his coffee, and hot liquid spilled down his uniform. "Ow, dammit!" He whipped around, looking for the assailant, then saw Rodney on the ground, muttering something as he picked up his tablet. "What the hell, Rodney?"

"Sorry, sorry about the - the coffee." He blinked, looking like he was having trouble focusing on the colonel. "What?"

"Where are you going?" Sheppard asked, flicking coffee off of his hand. "Somebody light a fire under your ass?"

"I did, Colonel," McKay said stiffly. "And I need to get back to it."

Sheppard frowned, looking at the scientist uncertainly. "Well... just be more careful, alright?" he suggested, but he was afraid his words fell on deaf ears. Rodney was already striding away, continuing his steady stream of muttering. Sheppard hated it when he got like this, but knew there would be no stopping him. He looked down at his stained clothes and sighed, but was so close to Elizabeth's office that it would be a waste of time to go back to his room and change. She'd just have to deal with his informal countenance.

"John," she said with a smile as he walked in, then raised an eyebrow. "Already an exciting day?"

"Rodney," he said, jerking his thumb behind him. "Sometimes I think he's a little unstable."

"But he's brilliant, and a necessary part of this expedition," she reminded him. "But we try not to let him know that."

Sheppard smirked. "So, Teyla said you wanted to talk to me?"

She leaned back, adopting her business-like demeanor. "Right. We're going to have visitors on Atlantis today. People from a planet called Aora are arriving so that we might continue our negotiations for an alliance. We've been going there, but they thought it was only fair that we should play host at some point, too."

"And you want me there in case anything goes wrong?" Sheppard guessed.

"Correct. You know how hard it is to trust anyone in this galaxy. I just want you standing by in case all doesn't go according to plan. I'm not expecting it won't," she added quickly. "It's just nice to be prepared."

He nodded. "You got it. When are they coming?"

"In about three hours, so you've got some time."

He rolled his shoulders a bit, feeling the pull of his sore muscles and the cold, uncomfortable wet of the coffee. "Well, I'm gonna go change, and if you need me, I'll be working out my frustrations in the training room."

She smiled. "Have fun."


	2. Chapter 2

Cooper slammed his wrist into the floor, her knee digging into his back. "Go again, sir?" she asked breathlessly.

He groaned into the mat. "Yeah. One more time. Let me up first."

She stood, allowing him to stretch and rub his sore arm. "Didn't have to pin me so hard," he complained.

She smirked. "Your shoulder still bothering you?"

"Not any more. Now the _rest_ of me hurts." But it was a good kind of hurt. As much as he liked sparring with Teyla, Sheppard felt on a more level playing field when he fought with Cooper. So far today, they were three to three, and he was determined to break the tie.

She stood on the other side of the room, getting herself into a ready stance. Then they circled each other, looking for an opening. He swung first, and she ducked. Then he threw another punch with a following undercut, but she saw it coming and grabbed his wrist. This was real sparring. A constant dance of attack and deflect, neither getting many solid hits in. With Teyla, he was constantly on the defense and lost almost every time. Today, Cooper was tiring just as quickly as he was.

The round ended when he threw a heavy punch and she ducked, twirled underneath, grabbed his arm with her right and pushed his chest with her left. The momentum and force combined sent him to the floor, knocking the wind out of him.

"Four to three," she panted, kneeling next to his head. "Sir."

"Shut up," he gasped, still attempting to get his breath back. "Water."

"Yes, sir." A moment later, she returned to his side with his water bottle. "Need any help?"

"I've got it," he snapped, grabbing it out of her hand and sitting up. "You've been working with Teyla."

"Here and there," she said, the smirk still on her face.

"Well, _you've_ been practicing, at least." He got to his feet, rubbing his back. Then he checked his watch and sighed. "We need to change. The Aorans will be here soon."

"I'm not on the welcoming committee," she told him, picking up her own water bottle. "Elizabeth just wanted you, Lorne, and some of the Marines. No need to let them _know_ we're nervous."

"So what are you gonna do?"

She shrugged. "I think I'll spend some more time here. Haven't had much of a day off in a while, so a little _controlled_ physical activity will do me some good."  
He took another swig of water and grabbed his gym bag. "Then I'll see you later."

. . .

Sheppard stood at the ready next to Lorne in the Gate room. He was in a freshly-cleaned uniform and his tac vest, imposing but not threatening. He wasn't expecting a visit from some dignitaries on a slightly-better-than-backwater planet to be anything less than dry, but then...

He had this feeling that wouldn't go away. It had been slowly building all day, maybe due to paranoia over the visit. It was just a bad feeling in the back of his mind that was getting more annoying by the minute, sort of like the buzzing in his room. Remembering the noise distracted him for a moment. He still hadn't figured out what the hell it was, and Rodney was being way less than helpful on that front. Maybe Zelenka would take a look at it. The Czech was always more interested in little problems around the city than Rodney.

"I heard it was only going to be a party of ten," Lorne muttered as they waited for the Stargate to open.

Sheppard snorted. "Could have just stationed you, let the rest of us get some actual work done."

"You saying I'm lazy, sir?"

"Not lazy. Just... not productive."

Lorne smirked. "Maybe I should ask you for more training sessions."

"Not what I meant, Major."

The Gate's chevrons started locking into place and the Marines tensed. "Relax, guys," Sheppard murmured. "Don't start anything. Just be ready."

The wormhole opened up, and out stepped several elderly people dressed in colorful robes. Behind them was a personal guard, dressed in khaki and wielding what looked like low-tech guns.

"Greetings, Magtok," Elizabeth said with a wide smile, stepping down to meet them. "We welcome you to Atlantis."

"Thank you, Dr. Weir," he said, not smiling but with a pleased air about his words. "You did not lie when you said your city was beautiful."

As they exchanged pleasantries, Major Lorne surreptitiously bumped his arm. "Should we redirect her?" he murmured.

Sheppard glanced over to see Cooper heading back through the room, having just finished her work out. She was still dressed in a tank-top and sweats, and was curiously looking over at the meeting on the Gate room floor. He was sorely tempted to roll his eyes, but gave a slight shake of his head instead. "Nah. She'll leave soon, and I don't think they noticed-"

"Sir, get behind me!" barked one of the Aoran guards, stepping forward.

Then everything happened in slow motion. Before anyone could move, the guard fired his weapon. The Marines instantly had their guns at the ready and two of them fired. Sheppard only had time to think, _Wrong_, so he pushed the Marines back, calling, "Stop, stop! Stay calm!"

"Colonel!" Lorne shouted. He grabbed Sheppard by the shoulder and turned him to face the stairs.

His heart stopped. Cooper was lying there, blood pooling on the floor from an open wound in her stomach. Without a word, the colonel abandoned the soldiers and ran up the steps to her side. "Cooper?" he said quietly, his hands hovering for a moment before deciding to put them on the wound, to stop the bleeding. "Cooper, can you hear me?" She didn't respond and he felt a shot of panic go through him. "Talk to me, Lieutenant, that's an order!"

"I hear you... sir," she grunted, staring vacantly at the ceiling.

"You're gonna be fine, alright?" He turned around, looking at the shocked faces below. "Get Dr. Beckett in here!"

"He's already been called," Elizabeth said, hurrying up the stairs.

"Get Lorne to detain the Aorans," he said quickly, quietly. His hands were slick, soaked in Cooper's blood. "Don't let them out of your sight, take their weapons, do-"

"John," she said firmly. "Lorne has them surrounded, please try to stay calm."

_Calm?_ he wanted to shout. He was supposed to be _calm_ while his lieutenant bled out on the floor? She let out a cry of pain and he looked down, entirely focused on her. "Beckett's almost here, Cooper, you'll be fine. Just hang on. Don't let a damn piece of lead cut you down."

She didn't reply. As he watched, her shallow breathing slowed to a stop, and beneath his hands, she stilled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I missed yesterday. Very few internets where I am. On with the show!**

**. . .**

Sheppard awoke to the sound of his alarm combined with an odd buzzing noise. Slowly, he sat up, looking around. His bedroom, dark and early. After a moment, he realized his alarm was still going off and reached back to hit the button. The buzzing noise persisted.

That had been a very vivid dream. He looked down at his hands, just to make sure they weren't covered in blood. Clean as a whistle, but shaking. Just a dream, then.

In the mess hall, he found Teyla sitting on one of the tables on his way to the coffee. "Good morning, John," she said cheerily.

"Hi," he said hesitantly, pouring himself some of the dark liquid.

"Elizabeth wishes to meet with you when you can find the time," she continued as he sat down.

"Uh, yeah, haven't been around much," he said, trying to shake off the feeling from his dream. "She probably misses me."

"I think the term Lieutenant Ford taught me was... booty call?"

He stopped mid-sip, staring at her. _No way..._

"Teaching the locals new vocabulary again, sir?" Cooper asked, seating herself across from him.

He felt a jolt go through him. The last time he saw her - last time he _thought_ he saw her - she was dying. And here he was, having the same conversation with her as he had been in his dream. "I need to go talk to Elizabeth," he said, getting to his feet.

What was happening? At first, he didn't realize, but the girls were saying the same things the same way they had in his dream. Maybe it was a coincidence, or deja vu. Whatever the case, he felt maybe he needed to say something to Elizabeth about it.

Someone slammed into his right side. Instead of being angry, Sheppard simply stopped and stared. "Rodney?"

The scientist, kneeling on the floor, also froze. "Sorry," he said distractedly, slowly looking up.

Their eyes met, and Sheppard thought he saw the same look in McKay's face, the same question. _What is happening?_

"I'm really busy-"

"-gotta see Elizabeth."

They split off immediately. Sheppard didn't know what it was, but something about that look made him distinctly uncomfortable. In fact, he was so disgruntled he hardly even noticed the coffee seeping into his clothes.

"John," Elizabeth said upon seeing him. She raised an eyebrow. "Already an exciting day?"

"I need to talk to you," he said quickly, doing his best to ignore the fresh wave of deja vu.

She frowned, confused. "Yes, I needed to talk to you, too..."

"About the Aorans?"

She blinked. "How did you-"

"I think I might have had a vision last night." She opened her mouth to protest, but he held up his hand. "It sounds nuts, I know, and believe me, right now I'm feeling a little... backwards," he admitted. "But just listen. I woke up this morning to the same damn ache in my shoulder, the same bad coffee, and the same conversation with Teyla and Cooper. Rodney spilled coffee on me, and you made some smart-ass comment about the stain before telling me about the visiting dignitaries. _That all_ happened in my dream last night."

She stared at him, probably considering sending him to Beckett. "And - what - you expect me to believe you're psychic now?"

"Yes. No. I mean, maybe it's just a one-time thing," he said with a shrug. "All kinds of crazy stuff happens in this galaxy. Why not a premonition?"

"But why today? Did you see something happen at the meeting?"

He tried not to picture it, the crimson stain, the sharp tang of blood. "Cooper was killed."

Her eyes widened. "The Aorans _attacked_ us?"

"Not _us_, just Cooper. I'm starting to think it was a bad misunderstanding. She wasn't supposed to be there, but she was leaving the training room and happened to be walking by. Out of uniform, the Aoran guard could have considered her an intruder." He felt better saying that. A rational explanation for that madness made it seem somehow less permanent.

Elizabeth looked at her hands for a moment, then back at Sheppard. "Alright. You might be crazy, but I was already going to prepare for things not going according to plan. A few more precautions won't hurt. I'll seal off the Gate room, just to make sure there aren't any surprises."

He nodded, hands pressed together in a gesture of thanks. "You're the best."

She smiled. "Don't I know it. Now go get cleaned up. I don't want to test how the Aorans will react to a sloppy staff."


	4. Chapter 4

The wind was, once again, knocked out of Sheppard as he was thrown to the floor.

"Four to three," Cooper said, kneeling next to him. "Sir."

"I even saw that one coming," he coughed, pushing himself into a sitting position. "Water?"

"Yes, sir." She stood and retrieved the bottle, then handed it down to him. "Need any help?"

"You're hilarious." He took a long drink, then got to his feet. He checked his watch  
for good measure. "You gonna be in here during the visit?"

"No, actually, Dr. Weir just asked if I could be there," she said, picking up her own water bottle. "Pretty last minute. She's having Teyla and Ronon go, too. Something about wanting extra security."

"Really?" he asked. Maybe Elizabeth had taken him more seriously than he thought. "Then we'd better get a move on if we're gonna be cleaned up by then."

"Yes, sir."

. . .

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Lieutenant..."

She looked uncomfortable enough, but as CO, he needed to reprimand her. "I couldn't find my uniform shirt, sir," she said stiffly.

"I'll have you court marshalled."

"You say that a lot, sir."

Lorne looked over at her, brow furrowed. "Is this a lieutenant thing? I remember Ford doing it a lot."

"Teyla does it, too," Ronon said, gesturing to the Athosian's bare arms.

"Can we make a rule? No tank-tops while on active duty," Sheppard said. "I don't know why you'd wear them, anyway. I'd feel naked."

"Trust me, sir, we don't _ever_ want you to feel that way."

He narrowed his eyes. "I'm serious, Cooper. Court marshalled. Your future."

The chevrons of the Gate began locking into place, and the wormhole opened up. Elizabeth stepped down the stairs with a few scientists at her back, a smile on her face. Elderly people in colorful robes stepped into the room, a group of khaki-clad guards at their back. Sheppard forced himself to relax. Elizabeth sealed off the Gate room, so there would be no incidents.

"Greetings, Magtok," Elizabeth said warmly. "We welcome you to Atlantis."

"Thank you, Dr. Weir," he replied. "You did not lie when you said your city was beautiful."

"That is very kind of you. May we conduct-"

"Sir, get behind me!" called one of the guards.

Sheppard stared, having only enough time to think, _No_, when a bullet came flying past his face. It missed, thankfully, and he was just about to calm the soldiers down when he heard something heavy hit the floor.

"MJ!" Teyla cried, kneeling beside the fallen lieutenant.

"No!" Sheppard barked. "This wasn't supposed to happen! We fixed it!"

"Sir, what are you talking about?" Lorne demanded. "Do we return fire?"

He stared at the body on the floor. The bullet had gone through her throat, killing her almost instantly. Oh, how he wanted to return fire, kill the sonofabitch that had murdered Cooper twice now.

He never got the chance.

. . .

Teyla looked at the colonel warily, slowly sliding down from her perch on the table. "John, are you alright?"

He looked at her. "No. I'm not."

"What's the matter, sir?" Cooper asked as she seated herself across from him.

He flinched. Seeing her was still a surprise. "It's not a vision. It's the same day."

The girls shared a look, then focused on Sheppard. "Are you not feeling well?" Teyla asked hesitantly.

They weren't going to understand. They hadn't experienced it. "No, I'm saying that this is the third time we've repeated the same day."

"I didn't know you were one to dislike the routine," Cooper said.

"No, no, I'm not talking about routine. It's the same exact day. Right down to my sore shoulder and Elizabeth wanting to see me." He jabbed a finger at Teyla. "Don't say booty call."

Now they were staring at him like he was a lunatic. "Perhaps you should go back to your quarters," she suggested carefully. "I will inform Elizabeth that you are unwell, and-"

"No. No, it's Elizabeth I need to talk to." He stood up so fast he almost knocked his chair over, but hardly cared. He needed to stop the Aoran visit from happening. Maybe if Cooper didn't die, this nightmare would end.

It was lucky that this time he forgot the coffee.

"Dammit, Rodney!" Sheppard snapped, hauling the scientist up by the back of his jacket.

"Well, excuse me for being a little distracted!" he snapped. "I've had a terrible day - two days - I don't even know! Just let me get back to work."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, holding up a hand. "You've been repeating days, too?"

Rodney paused. "This one specifically, yes. You... you have?"

"Yeah. This is the third time, and let me tell you, I'm starting to get a little annoyed," he said testily.

"Believe me, I know what you mean," Rodney said. "Every day, Zelenka tries to convince me that we can synthesize antimatter, and it almost makes me feel sorry for him that the one day he's most off his game is the day we keep repeating-"

"Rodney," Sheppard interrupted, trying to remind himself that the man couldn't possibly know. "Cooper has died every day before everything reset."

He frowned, paling slightly. "Does - does she die in different ways, accidents, or-"

"The Aorans," he replied. "I don't know, the first time I thought it was a mistake, but now I think they're targeting her."

"Then we need to tell Elizabeth."

"I was just on my way to do that."


	5. Chapter 5

She stared at the two boys in front of her, unsure of how to react. "So... you're saying we're stuck in a time loop... but you're the only ones who know."

"In a nutshell, yes," Rodney answered. "Look, if it was just Sheppard telling you, I'd understand your reluctance to believe it, but _I'm_ telling you the same thing."

"So I should just believe you because you said so?" She sighed when he nodded. "You _have_ been wrong before, Rodney."

"Please, don't you think I'd notice if I was stuck in a time loop?"

"I think maybe the stress of this job is starting to get to you."

"Much as I don't like saying it, Rodney's right," Sheppard said. "The second time we looped, I thought I'd had a vision of the future. You believed that, so why not this?"

"What could be powerful enough to cause a _time loop_?" she asked exasperatedly. "There's a difference between strong deja vu and bending the laws of time itself."

"I don't know what's making this happen. I was trying to work on it when I ran into Sheppard. Quite literally, actually, you'd think you would figure out you need to move by now."

"And maybe you'd learn to look where you're going," Sheppard shot back. "Look, the point is, we need you to tell the Aorans to not come today."

Her eyebrows shot up. "And why would I do that?"

"Because the last two times, they've killed Cooper."

"Why?"

He raised his hands in the air. "I don't know, I didn't exactly get the chance to ask them."

She pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes at the boys. It wasn't like them to overreact. In fact, she could name a few occasions when they underreacted. "You realize what happens if I call off this meeting," she said. "We lose the Aorans' trust. They won't deal. We won't get their alliance."

"Then you know I wouldn't ask unless it was important," he said, lowering his voice.

"And you don't have to cut them off completely," Rodney added. "Just tell them we need to reschedule. Maintenance, or something."

She looked away, thinking it over. "You said they killed Cooper both times?"

"Yes."

"Then why not continue with the meeting and make sure she's kept out of the way?" She faced them again, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not canceling this if I don't have to."

Sheppard's shoulders sagged, but he conceded. "Fine. Maybe if we keep her alive, we'll stop looping."

"I wouldn't hold my breath," Rodney said. "I doubt Cooper has anything to do with a rift in time. It just so happened that she was killed the day the loop started."

"Well, if we wake up tomorrow and it's Thursday, we'll know." He nodded at Elizabeth, sticking his hands in his pockets. "I'm gonna go work off some stress."

. . .

When he woke up, he knew he'd have to venture beyond his room to see if things were different.

He crept into the mess hall, as though if he was quiet this time, the loop wouldn't follow him. _New day, new day, please be a new day._

"Good morning, John. Elizabeth-"

"You know what," he interrupted, coming to a halt. "I don't have the time. I need to go talk to Rodney." He spun on his heel and walked right back out. It was too early for the scientist to be rushing down the hall, so he'd probably be in the lab. What was it he'd been doing that made him so distracted, anyway?

"It didn't work," he said, grinding out the words in his irritation.

"I know, I know, I realized that," Rodney said, typing madly at one of the computers. "But now we know it has nothing to do with Cooper."

"So what is it?"

"I don't _know_. If I knew, don't you think I would have fixed it by now?"

The other scientists were looking at the pair in mild confusion. Zelenka leaned forward, slightly concerned. "Is everything alright, Rodney?"

"No, it's not. And I swear, if you say one more word about antimatter, I _will_ send you back to the planet full of children."

The Czech closed his mouth reproachfully and returned to his station. Sheppard felt bad for him, but not enough to detract from the problem at hand. "So what do we do now?" he asked.

"We figure this out. The loop resets every six hours. If we make it past that, we know it's fixed." He looked up from his computer. "Not sure you'll be much help with this Sheppard. If you want to take a seat..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get out of your hair." He stalked out of the lab, wondering just how long he could take this before he snapped.


	6. Chapter 6

Sheppard quickly realized Rodney had no clue what he was doing. The eighth loop around clued him in, and it definitely wasn't the last.

After fourteen, he lost count. He started finding better things to do with his time, deviating from the normal script. Sometimes he'd sleep in. Lunch consisted of ice cream only, three loops in a row. He golfed through the Stargate (so satisfying). Once, he played a prank on Ronon just before the reset so he could get all the laughs out of the reaction and none of the dying from the revenge. In one loop, he figured out where Cooper snuck off to whenever he couldn't find her. It also happened to be the same place Lorne had been frequenting during downtime.

He also kissed Elizabeth once, just to see what it was like. Kinda nice. But then the reset happened, and it was over.

Twice, Cooper died, though he tried to keep her away from the meeting. Canceling the meeting actually caused a war, so he didn't think that was a good idea, either.

Rodney, on the other hand, was not having the best of times. Every loop, he got up and worked relentlessly on a solution, but he was having trouble even finding the problem. Without knowing what was causing the time loop, he couldn't repair the rift. Sheppard was not helping, taking this as an opportunity to act as childishly as possible. He decided he'd had enough when he walked into the lab to find the colonel already there, "Time Warp" blasting from his portable speakers.

_"It's just a jump to the left... And then a step to the riiiiiiiight!"_

"Really?" Rodney said, giving Sheppard a look.

"Put your hands on your hips," he replied, mimicking the movements. "And bring your knees in tiiight!"

The scientist rolled his eyes and turned away before the pelvic thrust came around. Maybe this looping thing was actually making the colonel go insane. As the chorus screamed, _"Let's do the time warp agaaaain!"_ he switched off the speakers.

"Oh, come on!" Sheppard whined.

"That is literally the worst song you could be listening to right now."

"How many people get to listen to 'Time Warp' while in the middle of an _actual_ time warp?"

"Does anyone want to?" Rodney asked.

Sheppard shrugged. "I'm living in the moment."

He rolled his eyes again, turning back to his computer. "Well, I'm completely sick of living in this particular moment, so just stop bothering me and let me get back to work."

Sheppard sat on the edge of a desk, frowning at Rodney's screen. "Be honest, Rodney, are you really any closer to figuring out what this is than you were when we started?"

Rodney was close to throwing back a retort when he paused. "No... but I just had another thought."

"Sharing is caring, Rodney."

He looked at the colonel. "If we're going to stop the time loop, we have to figure out why the Aorans keep killing Cooper. If she dies and we've already fixed the loop... there's no reset. She'll just be..."

"Dead," Sheppard finished, his airy mood evaporating. "Then I guess I need to get on that."

Rodney took a seat on a stool, staring off into space as he thought. "Has she provoked them in any way?"

"No. She doesn't even get the chance to say, 'hi.'"

"And they don't attack anyone else?"

He shook his head. "When Cooper's not there to shoot, they go on with the meeting. We reset at the same time, anyway. And then we're back to square one, going around again, nobody else getting it, having to explain ourselves every damn time, and that stupid buzzing noise that I can't get anyone to fix!" He was pacing now, his mouth twisted in an angry frown. Stupid time loop, stupid Wednesday, stupid Aorans, stupid everything. He was pretty sure General O'Neill never had to deal with this crap.

"Buzzing noise?" Rodney said, sounding much calmer than the colonel for once. "Like... like not so much a 'bzzzzz' but more of a 'waaaah'?"

Sheppard looked up. "Yeah."

He got to his feet, a new light in his eyes. "Keep your radio on and go to your room."

"What is it?"

"I've heard the buzzing, too. Whatever it is might be the source of the loop. Come on."

. . .

"Okay, what am I looking for?"

_"Like I've already said, you're looking for the source of the buzzing."_

"Rodney, I've been looking for that for days, I need a little more to go on," Sheppard said irritably, staring around his room.

_"Well, use process of elimination. It's probably not something from Earth, and it's something both of us have."_

He sighed. Yeah, that narrowed it down to basically the bare structure of the room. He shook his head, doing a circuit of the room. That buzzing didn't quit, and it was grating on his last nerve.

Well, as long as it was present, he might as well use it. Closing his eyes, the colonel listened for a moment to see if he could pinpoint the location. Sort of on the left side of the room, maybe. And muffled. So it was under something. Not a surprise, he tended to shove things in a corner when he didn't know what to do with them.

His eyes snapped open. "Rodney, the clocks!"

_"What?"_

"Teyla came back from a trading mission a couple weeks ago, she brought back a couple stone clock thingies and gave them to us," he said, diving into the corner of the room next to the bed.

_"Colonel, I've told you three times, and I bet Teyla's told you more, they're not clocks, they're-"_

"Artifacts," Sheppard finished, freeing the device from his pile of laundry. It was small, but heavy. Numbers of some sort ran along the sides, and in the middle, there was a circle. As he held it, the device vibrated slightly, and the buzzing sound was unmistakably coming from there. "She probably had no idea what she'd found."

_"I just found mine. You'd think I'd learn to organize my things every now and again, but I don't spend a lot of time in here, so... Anyway, let's get these into the lab and figure out how to shut them off."_

"Copy that."


	7. Chapter 7

"I would have thought of this a lot sooner if you'd said something about it before," Sheppard grumbled, staring at the artifacts sitting side by side.

"I told you, I don't spend a lot of time in my room. I figured it had been going for days and I just hadn't been around to notice," Rodney said, checking the various readings he was receiving. "The bigger question is, why would someone make two identical devices that cause a time loop on a totally random day?"

"Maybe the day isn't totally random," the colonel said with a shrug.

Rodney looked at him. "Alright, let's hear it. Do you have some brilliant theory?"

Sheppard shrugged again. "Maybe they used it when they made a mistake. Take our problem with Cooper, for example. If one of the Ancients was shot, the others might have tried to restart so they could fix the events before they happened."

"And you think the devices remember the date they were supposed to work and turned on by themselves?" he asked. "Wouldn't they have gone off every year, then? Considering the place they were last, I doubt anybody had the knowledge or the resources to shut them down."

"We both have the gene, right? Maybe we activated them when Teyla brought them back."

"So how do we deactivate them?"

Sheppard shook his head. "We've got some C4."

Rodney gave him a look. "Oh, yes, the universal problem solver. Just blow it up! Do you have any idea what might happen if we just destroy these? We might permanently trap ourselves in this loop."

"Well, fine, do you got any bright ideas?" the colonel snapped.

Rodney frowned, staring intently at the devices. He checked his watched and his anxiety seemed to mount. "We've got ten minutes before the next loop. I don't really want to go around again."

"We might have to. At least we'll still know the stuff we know, just keep thinking."

The scientist began to pace, muttering to himself. "Can't just 'think' it off... Control crystals, maybe?" He picked up one of the devices, turning it over in his hands. "I don't see how to open it."

Sheppard lifted the other one and likewise examined it. There didn't seem to be any seams or hinges, no sign that the object could be taken apart. That wouldn't make much sense. These things had to operate somehow, and Ancient devices, much as Sheppard liked to think so, didn't run on some magic mojo. Something this powerful had to have some kind of interfacing.

"This looks like a button," he finally said, pressing his thumb into the circle at the center. It didn't budge, so he pressed harder.

"Colonel - careful!"

"It is a button!" he said happily, and the device opened up like a flower in his hand. "Hey, look - mini control crystals."

"Really?" Rodney pressed down on his own button and his similarly opened. "Then if we just take these out, the loop should stop." He reached for the little glass-like pieces, but he never touched them.

**. . .**

This time, when Sheppard woke up, he dove for his laundry and seized the time-looper. Without pausing to make any modifications, he took off running for Rodney's room. He hoped he wasn't too late, that the idiot hadn't already started.

His heart sank upon entering. The scientist was sitting triumphantly next to a dismantled Ancient device, the crystals shining in his hand. "No more Wednesday!" he crowed.

"Rodney, you moron!" Sheppard growled. "What about Cooper?"

His smiled faltered. "I-"

"We still don't know what's happening! What if she walks in there today and they shoot her again? We don't get another chance!"

"Will you calm down? We still have a few hours to think, we can do this," Rodney said, though his voice was on a higher pitch. "Why would they choose her over everyone else?"

"I think the question is why do they choose her over _no one_ else," said the colonel as he began to pace. "When she's not there, everything's fine. It's something about _her_, I just don't know what it is."

"Is it the way she walks?"

"That's dumb."

"Oh, come on, give me some credit here."

Sheppard shook his head, closing his eyes as he pictured the scene. "She always has bare arms. Her uniform shirt is MIA, but Teyla always has a tank-top on, too. It's not because she's a woman. It's not because she's an intruder. I can't..." His eyes snapped open, the answer hitting him with the weight of a blue whale. "The tattoo."

Rodney's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Her tattoo, the triangle on her shoulder. It's always visible, she's the only one who has it." His excitement mounted. "It makes so much sense! Every time the guards see it, they immediately get on the defensive, telling Magtok to get behind them like they're protecting him. That triangle must be an evil sign for their people."

"See, this is why I never got into the tattoos," said the scientist, already pulling apart Sheppard's time device. "I had a really Catholic grandma who always told me tattoos were signs of pagans or devil worshippers. Good thing I listened."

Sheppard looked at him. "Yeah. I'd have expected you to forsee yourself going to a different galaxy and encountering people who don't even know what a pizza is."

"There are people back on Earth with the same reservations about skin markings. It's not a silly thing to be concerned about."

Sheppard had already tuned out. "Whatever. I need to make sure everything's ready today. Also, I'm borrowing this." He snatched Rodney's jacket off a chair, ignoring the scientist's protests, and headed out of the room.

**. . .**

His foot was tapping a hundred beats per minute. It was making Lorne antsy, but he couldn't help himself. Cooper hadn't been assigned to the team of soldiers, which meant she'd either come in on her way out of the gym, or she wouldn't come in at all. He hoped he'd catch her in time, before the Aorans had a chance to see the triangle.

Pleasantries were exchanged. Elizabeth smiled graciously, totally oblivious to what had been happening for over a week. The old Aoran leader smiled, complimenting the place like he had _every damn day_.

And then he saw her. Cooper was just walking into the room. Without bothering to warn anyone, Sheppard broke formation and took off up the stairs. He could hear Elizabeth falter, then continue so as not to bring attention to him. She'd question his actions later. Cooper herself looked surprised, stopping as he ran to her. "Sorry, sir, I lost track of time and-"

"Here." He shoved the jacket at her, making sure to cover up the tattoo. "Put it on."

She made a face. "Sir, isn't this Rodney's?"

"You can take a shower later. _Put it on_, that's an order."

Looking concerned now, she pulled her arms through the sleeves. "I don't understand, sir. What's going on?"

"I'm making a new rule," he said, relaxing now that the plan was complete. "No visible tattoos. You don't have that thing covered up, you don't go anywhere. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Go to your quarters and don't come out until the Aorans are gone. I'll come help you find your uniform shirt later."

She raised her eyebrows. "How did you-"

"Just go."

She hesitated, then nodded and exited the Gate room. Sheppard breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, things could go back to normal. Or, as normal as they ever were in Atlantis.


End file.
